We granted certiorari in this case to consider whether the opinion of the Court of Appeals constitutes an erroneous expansion of the law of this state regarding the existence and scope of the duties of manufacturers with respect to dangerous product defects.1 For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the Court of Appeals decided issues concerning the duties of manufacturers that were unnecessary to a resolution of the issue of proximate cause, which was the sole issue on which the trial court granted summary judgment to the manufacturers and thus was the decisive issue on appeal. As for proximate cause, the trial court granted summary judgment to the manufacturers on the ground that the actions of the plaintiff’s employer were the sole proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries. The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court, ruling as a matter of law that the manufacturers’ actions were a proximate cause of the appellee’s injuries. We conclude that the issue of proximate cause is for the jury in this case, and that the Court of Appeals erred by ruling on it as a matter of law. However, because our ruling on proximate cause requires the reversal of the grant of summary judgment by the trial court and because the Court of Appeals’s judgment reversed the trial court, although for what we conclude was an incorrect rationale, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals with the direction that the case be remanded to the trial court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
1. The appellant, Regina Smith, worked for Wilen Mop Manufacturing Wilen, and operated a yarn cutter that was manufactured by the appellants, Ontario Sewing Machine Co. and Texmatic Machinery hereinafter collectively referred to as “Ontario”.2 On July 22, 1998, the blade of a first generation machine severely injured Smith’s hand when it activated without warning. Before Smith was injured, Ontario sent Wilen a recall notice, stating that because two prior injuries had occurred from the use of the yarn cutter in question,3 Ontario was recalling the machines. The notice stated that Wilen should stop using the machines; that Ontario would reimburse Wilen for the cost of the recalled machinery; that the offer to reimburse was good for a period of 90 days; and that Wilen could purchase a new and improved yarn cutter from Ontario, which was also a more expensive piece of equipment than the recalled machinery. Smith subsequently filed this product liability action against Ontario, and the trial court granted summary judgment to Ontario solely on the ground that Wilen’s failure to stop using the defective machine after the voluntary recall by Ontario was the sole proximate cause of Smith’s injury.
